Australians more gloomy than recession-hit nations

Australia's economy might be the envy of the developed world but that does not appear to be making Australian workers any happier than their global counterparts.

A new survey shows that Australians are more pessimistic about their job security and financial wellbeing than workers in recession-hit places like Britain and France.

The study by the global advisory firm Towers Watson also finds that fewer than half of Australian workers have confidence and trust in their managers.

I think people are wondering if the worst is yet to come, whereas the other countries who have been in a recession are really coming out the other side of that tunnel now.

Towers Watson partner Lesley Brown

Towers Watson partner Lesley Brown says Australians are hearing a lot of warnings about the future.

"I think there's a lot of messages out there about the two or three speed economy, and conversations about job losses and the future state of our nation," she explained.

"I think people are wondering if the worst is yet to come, whereas the other countries who have been in a recession are really coming out the other side of that tunnel now. We're sitting on the other side of it wondering if we're going into it."

The survey highlighted concerns about longer working hours for many employees since the onset of the financial crisis.

Lesley Brown says it also showed that Australians were using lower interest rates to pay down their debts more quickly, rather than to borrow more.

"I think they’re worried about being able to support their families and being able to do things like pay off their mortgages in a timely way, particularly while interest rates are low," she added.

"They’re also feeling the impact of having worked longer and harder for a long period of time. We had over half the people who responded to the survey saying that they were working longer hours in the past over the last couple of years, and nearly half those people also thought that that would continue in the future.

"So getting that balance has been a real challenge for them and it's leading to stress."

Lesley Brown says the public attention being generated by media coverage of job losses, particularly in the manufacturing sector, has created a national feeling of insecurity.

"I think people are talking about that and so it becomes part of the conversation for people and then feeds into their sense of security, and the study really indicated that they were reverting back to life fundamentals. They want that security," she observed.

"We saw job security became a top five influence on decisions to remain in the company and which companies they wanted to join, and that hasn’t been the case in the past. It was really about career advancement and career development [in the past]."

The heightened feeling of job insecurity sits in stark contrast to an unemployment rate of 5.2 per cent, which is not only low compared with other developed nations, but also low compared to average Australian unemployment rates over the past few decades.

While the fear of joblessness has driven many Australians to work longer, Lesley Brown says that may not be efficient or sustainable.

"[Employees] do want to be able to work smarter and there’s a lot of technology opportunities out there," she said.

"Part of the study was saying that even though people were perhaps working longer hours, that may not be the most effective work."

Many employees blame their managers, with less than half expressing trust and confidence in their bosses.

"We saw that only 42 per cent of the Australian respondents have trust and confidence in their leaders at the moment, and having that trust and confidence in leaders is imperative during times of change and there is a lot of change going on and that will continue," Lesley Brown added.

"So there’s a lot that I think leaders can do to really take the opportunity to reengage the workforce."